Free Republic

If there’s one thing I’ve learned about the antivaccine movement, it’s that its members dislike being criticized. Oh, hell, let’s be honest. The really, really hate criticism and react very, very badly to it. Whereas you or I or other skeptics might react to criticism by trying to address it using facts, science, and reason, the first reaction of many antivaccine loons is to attack, attack, attack.

The Census Bureau recently released data from the 2013 American Community Survey (ACS), including languages spoken for those five years of age and older. The new data show that the number of people who speak a language other than English at home reached an all-time high of 61.8 million, up 2.2 million since 2010. The largest increases from 2010 to 2013 were for speakers of Spanish, Chinese, and Arabic. One in five U.S. residents now speaks a foreign language at home. Among the findings: In 2013, a record 61.8 million U.S. residents (native-born, legal immigrants, and illegal immigrants) spoke...

Story Published: Aug 10, 2010 at 7:54 AM CDT Story Updated: Aug 10, 2010 at 1:12 PM CDT SNIPPET: "SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Viewers are calling the KY3 Newsroom and posting information on our KY3 Ozarks Today Facebook page about getting the wrong channels on Dish Network on Tuesday morning. Some of the channels are apparently in Chinese, Arabic and other languages." SNIPPET: "UPDATE On Tuesday, August 10, 2010 12:24 PM, KY3 received an official statement from Dish Network regarding the issue. “Starting at approximately 3:30 a.m. MDT, satellite uplink provider, EchoStar, experienced an equipment failure associated with a primary video...

I really enjoyed the responses from last week's "What Are Your Favorite Movies Made Before 1950?" thread (http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2406295/posts). So here's another movie topic - favorite foreign language films of any era. (Hey, we need a pleasant distraction from the debacle going on in DC!) If you know the date or even decade of the film and the language, please include it. Thank you and enjoy!

So here is Obama's problem -- Time Magazine on December 18th 2007(after an extensive intereview with BHO) says Barack Obama speaks Bahasa Indonesian. See URL: Time Magazine http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1695803,00.html QUOTE:"When prominent Indonesians visit the U.S., the first person they want to meet is Obama, says Parnohadiningrat Sudjadnan, the Indonesian ambassador to the U.S. 'Back home people think of him as one of us, or at least one who understands us,' he says, adding that they are delighted to find that Obama speaks passable Bahasa, the language spoken in Indonesia and Malaysia. " BUT.... On July 11th, 2008 Barak Obama says tells...

When Richard Murray called his banking clients, his strong Birmingham accent heavily laced with a Hereford twang made him instantly recognisable. But a year ago, Richard, 30, had a stroke and lost the power of speech. Now he speaks with a heavy foreign accent. Some say his accent is definitely French, others are sure it is Eastern European or Italian. "Now when I call my clients and say 'It is me, Richard Murray', they say 'Who?'. They don't recognise my voice. "So now when I speak to people I preface it with: 'I have had a stroke and this is...

Mary Kay Feltes will get a present Wednesday as part of an unusual foreign aid package from Mexico. "I can't wait to open the box and see what's inside," said Feltes, assistant director of the Owatonna Public Library -- one of 82 organizations around the state that will receive a box of 55 Mexican textbooks. The books will be given to school districts, libraries, community centers, universities and penitentiaries throughout Minnesota and northern Wisconsin. The books, all in Spanish, are similar to those used in Mexico, covering everything from social sciences to mathematics. However, these books were produced by the...

"THE SUCCESS of our country depends upon helping newcomers assimilate into our society, and embrace our common identity as Americans," President Bush declared Monday in his Oval Office address on immigration reform. "English allows newcomers to go from picking crops to opening a grocery, from cleaning offices to running offices, from a life of low-paying jobs to a diploma, a career and a home of their own." As the son of legal Costa Rican immigrants whose mother learned English, taught in the Los Angeles City Schools and earned a master's degree from Pepperdine University, I found the President's words pertinent,...

English may be a grand language, but sometimes you need to draw on another language to find the absolute perfect word to describe a situation. This list of 10 words is proof positive. They were assembled by former BBC quiz-show researcher Adam Jacot de Boinod and published in his new book, "The Meaning of Tingo," which draws on intriguing words and phrases culled from more than 154 languages. It took two years, 280 dictionaries and 140 Web sites, as well as consultations with various foreign embassies, to conduct the research. Why did he write the book? de Boinod told the...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 5, 2006 – President Bush today kicked off a new national program designed to increase the number of Americans fluent in Arabic, Chinese, Russian, Hindu, Farsi, and other critical-need languages. "We're going to teach our kids how to speak important languages. We'll welcome teachers here to help teach our kids how to speak languages," Bush said in introducing his National Security Language Initiative at the State Department. Bush addressed university presidents here attending an international educator's conference that's co-sponsored by the State and Education departments. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, and Defense Secretary Donald...

Are any of you homeschoolers - or for that matter other teachers - familiar with the Muzzy BBC program for foreign language for very young children? Any comments?